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The heads of the California State University and University of California systems said Monday that their boards would absorb hundreds of millions of dollars in state budget cuts without raising tuition, The Sacramento Bee reported. At a news conference before UC President Mark G. Yudof and Cal State Chancellor Charles B. Reed testified at a legislative hearing, they and the president of the California Community Colleges, Jack Scott, said the institutions would absorb a total of $1.4 billion in cuts ($500 million each for the university systems and $400 million for the two-year colleges) through program cuts and some enrollment limits. (The community colleges plan a $10 per unit increase in student fees.) The university systems have raised tuitions sharply in recent years, but said they would forgo increases this year unless voters reject tax extensions that Governor Jerry Brown has proposed for a June election.
The campus leaders said that they hope legislators will give the systems increased flexibility and more stable financing going forward in exchange for the newest round of cuts. "We're saying, 'I don't like it. I don't want to do it, but I'm willing to do it for the CSU if there is a future to reinvest in California and have a conversation about what kind of California do we want for our kids, what kind of economy do we want, what kind of people do we want in the work force," Reed said. "So this one time, sure. I'm willing to sacrifice because every public agency is going to have to sacrifice something."
